Senate President Bukola Saraki has hailed the Nigerian Army for its decision to purchase 50,000 pairs of shoes from local manufacturers in Aba for the use of officers and soldiers. According to him, the move shows that the military was living up to its billing as an institution that can play vital roles in boosting the national economy, adding that the military’s decision to patronise Made in Nigeria footwear was a good example which shows the force as a pace setter and a truly national institution which is ready to contribute its quota in ending the present economic recession in…

This year’s August Meeting, the one-week annual reunion of the women wing of Home and Abroad unions of autonomous communities in the South-Eastern States, is now in progress. The occasion which started as a yearly gathering of women in some communities and as a vehicle for moral rearmament and community development at first merely served to remind them of their domestic responsibilities while meting out sanctions to defaulters as appropriate. Over the years, this laudable post-civil war get-together, spread throughout the region, while enlarging its agenda to become a formidable vehicle of community development, both in infrastructure and capacity building….

Njiko Igbo, a socio-political group, has described the recent alleged deportation of 67 people by the Lagos State Government to Onitsha in Anambra State, as unlawful. In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Brady Chijioke Nwosu, the group stated that it was unlawful for a government to detain citizens of the country without proper trial. Recall that 67 people were recently deported from Lagos and brought to Onitsha. Some of them who spoke to newsmen said they were arrested and detained for crimes they knew nothing about and subsequently, deported. Nwosu, in his statement said: “It is prejudicial…

Peace talks between the United States and the Taliban over the war in Afghanistan will probably be held “in the next few days,” a senior U.S. administration official told CNN on Wednesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer up a time line for the discussions. But a prisoner exchange is one of the issues the United States intends to discuss with the Taliban. Senior U.S. officials say they want the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a soldier captured by militants in 2009. “We have every reason to believe” Bowe Bergdahl is alive, a Pentagon official…

… Pay us now or we die Two keenly contested words in Imo State at the moment are pension-salary and pension-arrears. While the pension authorities and the pension office argue that retired pensioners in the state are only owed pension arrears and not pension, the retirees maintain that there is no difference between pension and pension arrears. They insist that pension arrears are nothing other than accumulated unpaid pension which eventually translate into arrears. This was the position of some primary school retirees from 1992 till date who staggered into THE LEADER office on Thursday, June 11, to register their…

He came from a wealthy stock. He was educated in the best schools. He was a soldier. He was a radical. He was an adept. Some will describe him as unpatriotic, while others see him as a nationalist. Some see him as a villain and others see him as a hero who fought for justice. In life and in death, Ojukwu appeared to have embodied the paradoxes of life and its extremes. Notwithstanding his rare characteristics represented in a somewhat mystic personality, the name Ojukwu will for a long time remain synonymous with the defunct Biafra. As the ex-warlord of…

The news that the House of Representatives, after 18 months of foot-dragging has finally toed the step of the Upper Legislative Chamber in proposing laws banning the practice of gay marriage, homosexuality, lesbianism and other sexual aberrations in the country, has gladdened many hearts. Henceforth, Churches and Mosques are forbidden from conducting same sex marriages while gay and lesbian couples who marry could face up to 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps such couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. Anyone taking part in a group advocating for gay rights or caught in…

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. However, the governors of the affected states are to continue in their constitutional roles. In a nationwide radio/television broadcast on Tuesday, President Jonathan ordered the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, to deploy more troops to the affected states for more effective internal security operations. The soldiers had been given full orders to take necessary action, within the ambit of their rules of engagement, to end the impunity of insurgents and terrorists. Full texts of the President’s broadcast on Tuesday, May 14,…

My grandfather Ekhaisomhi, the father of my mother, was a true and good Muslim, the best grandfather every child prays to have. My mother, Awawu Veronica, is simply the best mother any child could have. She gave me the love and peace she inherited from her Muslim parents. My grandfather, Omonokhua, the father of my father, was an African traditional priest who was known for love, peace and generosity. Another grandfather every child would pray to have. My father, Okhifo, gave me the love, peace and generous values he inherited from his parents. My grandparents and parents personified the scriptures…

– Former Anglican Knight, Sir Abel Ikenyiri Chief Sir Abel Ezeala Ikenyiri, native of Umuemeke-Ama Ibeowere Agbaja, Ehime Mbano LGA, Imo State, born into a family of Anglican ancestry, rose to the ranks of a knight of the Anglican Church and lay pay-master narrates verbatim how he was caught up in the “whirlwind” of Catholic faith and the “mountain” moved over. Our Okigwe reporter, PeterClaver Ubochi, traced the former Anglican ‘Big Oga’ to his tranquil Umuemekeama (Agbaja) village, had a field day with the man of faith as he speaks on the circumstances of his conversion, its aftermath, an assessment…